


First Chance Only Chance

by GretchenSinister



Series: My Top 10 JackRabbit Fics [11]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Pre-Relationship, personal guardians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22168243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "The Guardians are actually (or additionally) guardian angel-type figures, who look after specific children. Jack is Jamie’s guardian, and Bunnymund is newly appointed as Sophie’s. They do not get on at all, but are forced to play happy families for the sake of their respective kids. Eventually, they grow to like it … perhaps a little more than they should."This is an AU where there are a lot of Guardians, but not every spirit gets to be a Guardian because if the Guardian fails and the kid dies, then they become a Boogeyman (of which there are quite a few). So you want the guarding spirits to be the best of the best. Nightmares are their own thing.
Relationships: E. Aster Bunnymund/Jack Frost
Series: My Top 10 JackRabbit Fics [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589287
Kudos: 29
Collections: JackRabbit Short Fics





	First Chance Only Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 6/6/2014.

_Thump._ The quiet sound startled Jack out of his reverie and pulled his gaze away from Jamie, his peacefully sleeping charge. Of course, it would have taken even less than that to distract him. Jamie didn’t really need all his attention at this instant. After finally having been assigned a Guardianship, everything had gone perfectly, and Jamie now slept in complete safety. So what if some of the danger Jamie had been in earlier that day had been caused by Jack himself? There was nothing wrong with a little excitement.  
  
The mysterious thump promised more of that than a sleeping kid, so even though he knew he shouldn’t leave Jamie alone, he decided to investigate it. Anyway, investigating the thump probably took precedence over all other things he should or shouldn’t do. After all, Jamie had a sister, and even if Jack wasn’t _her_ Guardian, that didn’t mean that he shouldn’t protect her, too. And Jamie really did look safe enough.  
  
Jack dropped soundlessly to the floor from his perch on Jamie’s desk and crept into the hallway. He pushed open Sophie’s door just enough for him to slip inside, only to be met with a boomerang inches from his nose when he did so.  
  
“I’d expect a lot from you, Frost, but never switching sides. What are you doing here?” The familiar accent and insulting implication alerted Jack to the identity of the speaker at once.  
  
“Bunny,” he said, “I should ask you the same thing. What are you doing sneaking around like a nightmare in the house of my _official charge_?”  
  
Bunny lowers his boomerang and folds his arms. “You’ve got to be joking. What, did you start five minutes ago? Jamie almost died in a sledding accident today.”  
  
“ _Almost,_ ” Jack said with a grin.  
  
Bunny frowns. “They should have given you an even older child.” He shakes his head in exasperation. “I don’t get it. Why take the risk? You’ve been moping around for who knows how long trying to get a Guardianship—”  
  
“Not nearly as long as you’ve been an old fogey.”  
  
“—and you know you’ve only got one shot at this. If you fail to protect the kid, wham! Boogeyman Jack.”  
  
Jack rolls his eyes. “Just because I like to have fun and haven’t been doing this for a jillion years doesn’t mean I’m clueless.”  
  
Bunny looks at him skeptically. “I’m going to end up guarding Jamie _and_ Sophie, aren’t I?”  
  
“Aw, you care that much?”  
  
“About Jamie and about keeping the number of boogeymen down, yes. Don’t flatter yourself, Jack.”  
  
“So you are here for Sophie,” Jack said, ignoring the rest.   
  
“Got a problem with that?”  
  
Jack shrugged. “Not particularly. But we are going to get to know each other pretty well.”  
  
“No, that really doesn’t need to happen,” Bunny began, breaking off when the faint light from the streetlamps outside flickered.  
  
“What was that?” Jack whispered.  
  
“Go check on Jamie, ya drongo,” Bunny said, readying his boomerangs as Jack dashed back down the hall.  
  
Jamie slept on, not even having so much as turned over in the few minutes Jack had been gone. Still, Jack swept the room, using his staff to flash icy light into the closet and under the bed. He found nothing, but the lights flickered again as soon as he finished.  
  
“He’s fine, but something’s going on,” he called to Bunny.  
  
Bunny hopped up through Jamie’s floor, finger pressed to his lips. “You never know when they’re going to start hearing you. But yeah, it does look that way.”  
  
“Nightmares?” Jack asked.  
  
“Maybe. Something that doesn’t want to be seen, anyway.”  
  
“We’ve got to check it out! This could be a huge deal, if it is nightmares!”  
  
“You just want to see one because you haven’t before,” Bunny said. “We can’t leave our charges.”  
  
A whinnying scream, muffled by distance, seeps through the walls.  
  
“Not every kid around here has a Guardian,” Jack pointed out.  
  
“And the nightmares go for the ones that don’t,” Bunny mutters.  
  
“So let’s go!”  
  
Bunny bared his teeth and grabbed Jack’s sweatshirt as he leaped for the window. “Maybe we do need to investigate this. But I need you to act like you know this is a terrible idea.”  
  
Jack glances at Jamie, snug and safe and sound. “This is a very terrible idea,” he deadpanned. “Happy?”  
  
The scream sounded again.  
  
“Not a bit,” said Bunny, “but we’d better go.”  
  
“Whoo! Team-up!” Jack shouted, phasing through the window in a flash. Bunny ground his teeth and followed close behind.


End file.
